Thorpe Mandeville is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. It contains the county town of Northampton, as wel ...

, England about northeast of Banbury in neighbouring

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. The hamlet of Lower Thorpe is just north of the village. The village's name means 'Outlying farm/settlement'. The village was held by Richard de Amundevill in 1252. The population of the parish has grown slowly over the centuries. It was recorded as 137 in the 1801 Census, 178 in the 1991 Census, 194 in the 2001 Census and 327 (including Edgcote) in the 2011 Census.

Manors

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 records the village as ''Thorp''. "Mandeville" is a corruption of ''Amundeville''. Richard de Amundeville was

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

in the 13th century. In 1346 a house and of land at Thorpe Mandeville were listed amongst the estates of the Augustinian priory at Chacombe. The Kirton family lived at Thorpe Mandeville manor house from 1554 to 1685. Thomas Kirton (1537–1601) of Thorpe Mandeville was Common Serjeant of London. The current ironstone manor house was built early in the 18th century. The south front of the house is of five bays and is in the style of Thomas Archer. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Parish church

By the end of the 11th century Thorpe Mandeville had a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, which was included in the early endowments to a

Cluniac Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul. The abbey was constructed ...

priory of the

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

of La Charité-sur-Loire that had been founded at Preston Capes in 1090 and moved to Daventry shortly thereafter. The present Church of England parish church of Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, built of local ironstone, dates largely from the early part of the 14th century. The north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

has Decorated Gothic windows and an arcade of three bays. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

has windows dating from about 1300, the middle of the Decorated Gothic period. The chancel was restored in 1872 under the direction of the architect Albert Hartshorne. High on the east wall of the west tower is a small stone relief of a man under a hood mould. On the north wall of the north aisle is a 14th-century painting of

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

carrying

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. On the west wall of the north aisle is a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

to Sir Thomas Kirton (died 1601) and his wife Margaret (died 1597). The church is a Grade I listed building. The tower has a saddleback roof and three bells. Henry I Bagley of Chacombe cast the second bell in 1636. John Briant of

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

cast the treble bell in 1790. Robert Taylor, who had foundries at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and St Neots, cast the tenor bell in 1826. The parish is now part of the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Culworth with

Sulgrave Sulgrave is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, about north of Brackley. The village is just south of a stream that rises in the parish and flows east to join the River Tove, a tributary of t ...

and Thorpe Mandeville and Chipping Warden with Edgcote and Moreton Pinkney.

Social and economic history

Thorpe Mandeville had a Church of England school that was built in 1864 and enlarged in 1898. It was closed in 1967 and the building has been the village hall since 1970. The Hill, about west of Thorpe Mandeville village, is a house designed by C.F.A. Voysey and built in 1897–98 for a member of the Hope Brooke family. In 1900 the Great Central Railway completed a line linking its new main line at Culworth Junction with the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

at Banbury Junction. The link line passed through the northern part of Thorpe Mandeville parish. In 1911 the Great Central opened west of Thorpe Mandeville and in 1913 it added at Culworth north of Thorpe Mandeville. British Railways closed both halts in 1956 and closed the line between Culworth Junction and Banbury Junction in 1966. The planned High Speed 2 railway line will pass through the area. The

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Select Committee on the bill to construct the line reported that the hamlet of Lower Thorpe would be virtually destroyed by the construction of a viaduct. The Three Conies Pub

Amenities

The village has a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, the Three Conies, that is controlled by the Hook Norton Brewery. Thorpe Mandeville is on an important former drovers' road called Banbury Lane. The Three Conies was built in the 17th century as a drovers' inn, providing overnight accommodation for drovers and their livestock.

Manors

Parish church

Social and economic history

Amenities

References

Further reading